Quote:
Originally posted by End User
Tritium, great post. Another question for you:
Here in Australia, most petrol stations have standard fuel rated at 93 Octane, and a 98 Octane 'Premium'.
From what I've read from the internet, 98 Octane is not readily available in the US. What do you think is the reason for this? I would have thought the US had more high performance, cars than us Aussies.
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I'd have to do more research on Aussie fuel lines, distilleries and terminals. I really couldn't put my finger on any one reason why the octanes would be different between US and Australia but it almost certainly has to do with the different additives used betewen our continents to raise octane levels. Gasoline distills at the same natural octane rating from crude oil regardless of which continent you are on. Logically, the only reasonable explanation I can think of would be different emissions requirements necessitating different fuel additives.
Your gasoline might contain more ethanol, for example, and, therefore, have a higher standard octane. Not sure. Are leaded fuels legal over there? The lead additives used in the US were added to cheaply raise octanes -- could be that they are still legal on your side of the Pacific for civilian ground vehicles.
But, I think that you get the general idea. Laws and regulations on emissions and the prices of available octane boosting additives probably influence what octanes the terminals crank out.